Big Ten Announces 2025 Men’s Gymnastics Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2025 men’s gymnastics individual award winners on Wednesday. Nebraska’s Taylor Christopulos was named Gymnast of the Year, while Illinois' Brandon Dang and Ian Sandoval were named Specialist and Freshman of the Year, respectively, following a vote of the league’s head coaches.

This marks the second Gymnast of the Year honor for Christopulos, who was also recognized in 2023, and the third Gymnast of the Year award for the Cornhuskers. Christopulos also becomes the seventh gymnast to earn the honor multiple times since the award was instituted in 1988.

Christopulos claimed four individual event titles on the season, two on the high bar, and one each on the pommel horse and floor exercise. The graduate student from Layton, Utah established career highs in all six events this season, including a 14.75 on the floor exercise and a 14.100 on the high bar, both of which rank among the best scores in the country on each apparatus this season.

Dang becomes the first gymnast named Big Ten Specialist of the Year, just one year after earning Freshman of the Year honors. Dang was named Big Ten Specialist of the week five times this season and collected three such honors from the College Gymnastics Association (CGA).

Dang will enter this weekend’s Big Ten Championships listed atop the Big Ten standings in the pommel horse and ranked second in the nation with a four-score average of 14.733. The sophomore from San Jose, Calif. went a perfect 7-0 on the horse this season, claiming victories over six of the top 10 pommel horse performers in the country.   

Sandoval becomes the ninth Illinois gymnast to claim Freshman of the Year honors and the second in a row after Dang claimed the award in 2024. A three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree, Sandoval enters the postseason ranked second in the country in the All-Around, boasting a 78.600 average score.

The Frisco, Texas native has claimed five titles during his rookie campaign, including all-around victories against No. 4 Nebraska and at No. 7 Michigan. Sandoval also claimed the floor and parallel bar crowns against the Huskers and added career high scores on the pommel horse and high bar against the Wolverines. Sandoval scored his first event win on the vault against No. 2 Oklahoma.

Also on Wednesday, the Big Ten recognized the five men’s gymnastics Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
 
The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Gymnastics Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Michigan’s Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. (ET) both nights and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network, as well as streamed live on the FOX Sports app. Additional information will be available on the Championships web site at bigten.org/MGYMChampionship.
 
The Big Ten Coach of the Year and Gymnast of the Championships awards will be selected by the conference coaches during this weekend’s meet and will be announced, along with the all-conference teams, following the Championships.
 
2025 BIG TEN MEN’S GYMNASTICS INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
 
Gymnast of the Year: Taylor Christopulos, Nebraska
Specialist of the Year: Brandon Dang, Illinois
Freshman of the Year: Ian Sandoval, Illinois

BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Amari Sewell, Illinois
Paul Juda, Michigan    
Chris Hiser, Nebraska   
Justin Ciccone, Ohio State  
Matt Underhilll, Penn State